BUENA PARK, Calif. (May 13, 2014)—Yamaha Absolute Hybrid Maple drum sets, which won the 2014 MusikMesse International Press Award for Best Drum Set, are now shipping.

Yamaha pioneered the construction of hybrid acoustic drum shells when it introduced its flagship PHX Series. As the name implies, the Absolute Hybrid Maple drum set combines a core ply of harder Wenge wood with outer plies of North American Maple.

This unique configuration produces a drum with an unusually expressive tone and a wide dynamic range that faithfully reproduces every nuance of a player’s approach. The drums offer a large tuning range, allowing the kits to fit into a wide range of genres for recording and live environments.

Absolute Hybrid Maple drum sets feature the original hook lug design, which brings out the drum’s natural tone by creating a small footprint on the shell. In addition to allowing quick and easy head changes, the lugs provide precision tuning.